Dentons

Aboriginal Law (Canada); Environment and Natural Resources; Energy

Partner

Helen practises in the firm’s Energy law group in Toronto. She is recognized as a leading energy practitioner with particular expertise in energy project development and utility regulation. She has over 25 years of experience as an energy lawyer in both the public and private sectors, including four years as counsel to the National Energy Board.

Helen’s energy practice has two main components: a project development component and a utility component. On the project development side, Helen acts as counsel to some of Canada’s leading developers of energy projects, including Enbridge Inc., Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc., Capital Power and Kruger Energy Inc. She also acts for lenders to and purchasers of power plant projects, providing advice and industry expertise, as part of the due diligence process, and for property developers, commercial landlords and large industrial consumers of electricity in connection with embedded generation projects, interconnection projects and energy purchasing strategies. Helen has specific expertise and experience in the areas of energy procurement (including procurements under Ontario’s FIT Tariff regime), energy contracts (including power purchase agreements in competitive and standard procurement processes), regulatory requirements and permitting issues. She works closely with other Dentons lawyers who are specialists in land acquisition, municipal law and Aboriginal issues, in order to deliver a complete “suite of services” to her clients.

On the utility side, Helen acts as counsel to Canada’s largest natural gas distributor and a number of Ontario’s largest electricity distributors in connection with rate applications, facilities applications, regulatory compliance issues and conservation and demand management initiatives. She has acted as counsel in over 80 proceedings before the National Energy Board, the Ontario Energy Board and the Energy Resources Conservation Board (Alberta) in cases involving the construction of electricity generation and transmission facilities and natural gas and oil pipeline facilities, the approval of rates (tolls) for transmission and distribution companies, the authorization of electricity and natural gas exports and the development of generic codes and policies in the electricity and natural gas areas. She has also represented a variety of domestic and foreign clients in natural gas and electricity cases before these boards. Helen has appeared before the Ontario Divisional Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Read Helen's full biography here.

English

Member, Canadian Bar Association Member, Canadian Petroleum Law Foundation Member, American Bar Association Member, Energy Bar Association (US)

Dalhousie University, 1981, LLB University of Manitoba, 1977, Masters (Natural Resource Management) Queens University, 1975, B.Sc. (Hons.) (Biology)